Bail-anchor



E. C. DANNER AND A. OSWALD.

RAIL ANCHOR. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10. mm.

Patented Nov. 11, 1919.

miZ 614901271162" 3 BY aslflald.

I ATO R: NZEY UNITED STATES PA NT OFFICE.

EMIL C. DANNER, OFWESTMONT BOROUGH, AND AUGUST OSWALD, 0F CONEMAUGHBOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL-ANCHOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Nov. 11, 1919.

Application filed June 10, 1919. Serial No. 803,137.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EMIL C. DANNER, a citizen of the United States,residing at-3rd avenue and Luzerne street, in the borough of Westmont,in the county of Cambria and State .of Pennsylvania, whose post-officeaddress is Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and AUGUST OSWALD, a citizen of theUnited States, whose residence and post-office address is 118 Oakstreet, in the borough of Conemaugh, county of Cambria, and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new, and useful Improvements inRa1'lAI1Cl10IS;'

and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart-to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to rail anchors, Which are preferably made ofmetal, arranged to be secured to and grip the flange of a railroad rail,and when in position adapted to abut against an adjacent railroad tie toprevent the rail from creeping longitudinally.

Our invention consists of a metal rail anchor, preferably of springsteel, tempered or otherwise, having a curved or otherwise oflsetintermediate portion, which ma or may not be thinner than the otherportions, and adapted to be partially straightened by bending orspringing to facilitate putting the rail anchor in place on the railflange and assist in retaining it in position. Our rail anchor is alsoprovided with two upper rojections or jaws, preferably diagonally ocatedwith respect to the rail axis and general direction of the rail anchor,which upper projections are adapted to overlap and contact with theupper portion of the rail flange adjacent to its edge, while the lowerpart of the rail anchor is provided with one or more projections, whichextend in the general direction of the rail, these lower projectionshaving sharp upper corners or edges adapted to bite into the lowerportion of the rail flange and thereby maintain the anchor in positionon the rail to resist the longitudinal creeping thereof. The anchor isfurther provided with a pair of laterally extending end portions, eachof which is adapted to contact with the rail' tie, and the form andconstruction of the anchor is such that when these end portions contactwith the tie as the rail tends to creep, this will slightly cant or tipthe rail anchor so that the upper sharp edges of the lower projectionswill cut or embed themselves into the under surface of the rail flangeand the upper projections will also clamp the rail flange and preventthe movement of the anchor on the rail. The upper projections arearranged diagonally and contact with the sloping upper surface of therail, and any tendency for the rail anchor in general to attempt adiagonal position with respect to the rail axis is resisted by thesloping upper surfaces of the rail flange, for the reason that anyattempted movement of one end of the rail anchor would increase theangle of the slope of the contacting edge of the upper diagonalprojection and prevent its displacement and the movement of the railanchor.

Having thus given a general description of our invention, we will now,in order to make the matter more clear, refer to the annexed sheet ofdrawings, which forms part of this specification, and in which likecharacters refer to like parts.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a railway track showing theapplication of our invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectionalelevation taken on the line II-II of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side elevationof the anchor illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a top plan view ofa slightly modified form of our rail anchor; Fig. 5 is a top plan Viewof another slightly modified form of rail anchor; Fig. 6 is stillanother slightly modified form of our rail anchor; Fig. 7 is a top planview of a little more than half of another slightly modified form ofrail anchor and Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the same portion. of therail anchor shown in Fig. 7.

Referring now to the characters of reference on the drawings :1indicates a rail in general, 2 are the base flanges thereof which arehorizontal on the bottom and sloping on their upper surfaces, as iscustomary. 3 is the railroad tie, which usually has rounded corners asillustrated, so that it contacts only with the lower portion of the railanclioiwhen in position, in such a way that any tendency of the rail tocreep longitudinally will be prevented by the slight canting of the railanchor. causing the cutting edges of the lower projections thereof tobite into the bottom of the rail flange and prevent its movement, thusacting on the principle of a lever. The railway spikes are 4. 5 is therail anchor in general as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, 6 areportions of the rail anchor intermediate of the ends thereof, 7 is theintermediate thinner offset portion which may be curved or otherwise,this portion acting as a spring when the anchor is bent to put it on therail, 8 are the end portions of the rail anchor shown as slightly curvedand adapted to abut against the railroad tie for the purposes previouslydescribed, 9 are the lower ribs or projections, the upper and extremeedges of which are preferably sharp and adapted to bite into the lowersurface of the flange of the rail when a movement of the rail causes itto press the anchor against the tie, 10 generally indicates the notch orspace in the rail anchor in which the rail flange is seated, 11 are theupper jaws or projections of the rail anchor, which are preferablyinclined diagonally as shown, the lower surfaces of which are adapted tocontact with the upper surfaces of the rail flange near the edgesthereof, the diagonal position of these jaws being such that the anglemade by their contact line with the upper surface of the rail flange asmeasured from the flat or lower surface of the rail flange, is a lessangle than that between the base of the rail flange and its uppersurface as measured at right angles to the rail axis, so that anytendency to shift one end of the rail anchor on the rail flange would beprevented by the attempted increase of this angle, which would cause thejaws to bite more firmly on the upper surface of the rail flange. Theupper extreme ends of'these jaws may be made rounded in such a way as toallow the rail anchor to be placed upon the rail by inserting it belowthe rail flange and forcibly pushing it upward by means of a lever or abar or other means, thus causing the projections 11 and the intermediateoffset portion to spring slightly to allow the jaws to pass over theedge of the rail flange and.

spring back again over the upper surface thereof. When placing theanchor in position, we may also increase the width of the jaw 1 openingby springing or partially straightening the central intermediate oifsetportlon of the rail anchor, which will, of

course, increase the length between the jaws eaneeo spring portion, 17are the end portions or abutments, adapted to contact with the tie, 18are the lower ribs or projections formed integrally with the rail anchorby folding the material upon itself as indicated, instead of the solidlyformed portions 9 in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, 19 is the rail recess of therail anchor in which the rail base is adapted to be seated, 20 are theupper jaws or diagonally projecting portions; 21 is the rail anchor ingeneral as illustrated in Fig. 6, 22 are parts of the intermediateportion thereof, 23 are the end portions or abutments of the rail anchorshown asstraight portions, 24 is the central thinner oflset springportion, 25 is the rail seat .or recess adapted to receive the railbase, 26 are the lower longitudinal extending ribs or projections havingsharp upper edges formed integrally by bending the rail anchor, the sideportions of these being spaced apart, conducing to ease of manufactureby rolling, pressing or otherwise, 27 are the upper diagonally disposedjaws or projections, 28 indicates a lever shown in dotted lines suitablefor securing the rail anchors in place, 29 is the projecting arm thereofadapted to contact with the upper surface of the rail head, 30 is a hookportion-at the bottom of the bar adapted to contact with an anchormember 38, which member has a hook engaged over the edge of the railflange in such a way that the movement of the upper end of the lever 28toward the rail forcibly springs the rail anchor into position, asheretofore described. This bar 28 and its attachments are only showndiagrammatically in order that we may simply illustrate the placing ofthe rail anchor in position, but we wish it understood that any othersuitable means may be used, as will be obvious to those skilled in thisart. As illustrated in Figs. '5' and 8, 33 is an inclined intermediateportion of the rail anchor 31, which in this case is formed with agreater angle to the rail axis than the corresponding portions of Figs.4, 5 and 6, the idea of this being to facilitate the manufacture byrolling or pressing by leaving a greater space between the intermediateoffset or curved portion 32 and the inclined portion 33, the rail anchor31 being the rail anchor in general as illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8. 34is the extremity of the lower longitudinally extending projectingportion of the rail anchor, the forward upper e go of which is hard andsharp and adapted to seat or bite itself into the rail base whenpressure is applied to the rail anchor due to the tendency of the railto creep, 35 is the rail seat or recess in this anchor, 36 is the upperdiagonally arrangedjaw and 37 is the end portion, or abutment of therail anchor shown as straight to contact with the railway tie.

Although we have shown and described our invention in considerabledetail, we do not Wish tobe limited to the exact and specific detailsthereof, as shown and described, but may use such modifications in,substitutions for, or equivalents thereof, as are embraced within thescope of our invention or as pointed out in the claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is 1. An integral rail anchor having a pair of endportions adapted to contact with the tie, an intermediate portion, apair of upper diagonally located jaws, and a pair of longitudinallyextending lower projections with sharp edges.

2. An integral rail anchor comprising a pair of laterally extending endportions olfset from the body of the anchor, an intermediate portionconnecting the same, an offset central portion, a pair of upperdiagonally projecting jaws, and a pair of lower projections extending inthe general direction of the rail and provided with sharp upper endedges.

3. An integral metal anchor formed of steel plate provided withprojecting end portions adapted to contact with the rail tie, a pair ofupper jaws adapted to contact with the upper surfaces of the railflange, a pair of lower projections adapted to contact with the lowersurface of the rail flange, and an intermediate offset portion thinnerthan the other portions of said anchor to permit springing the same.

4. An integral rail anchor comprising a plate of metal having ofi'setlaterally extending end portions 1 adapted to contact with the tie, anintermediate portion provided with a pair of upper jaws, and a pair oflower projections extending in the general direction of the rail, theintermediate portion. being offset or curved and adapted to act as aspring.

5. An integral rail anchor comprising a pair of end portions adapted tocontact with the tie, an intermediate portion connecting the same, apair of diagonally disposed upper jaw portions, the corner of at leastone of which is rounded or chamfered to permit its easy application overthe edge of the rail flange.

In witness whereof we hereunto aflix our signatures.

EMIL C. DANNER. AUGUST OSWALD.

